Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Poetry by Ron Carlson? Yes, please!

I'm participating in a month of poetry hosted by Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit, and today is my day. I'm sharing two poems by my very favorite author, Ron Carlson. Carlson had published lots of short stories and a few novels, and his prose is often like poetry to me, but his latest book is the first of his poetry that I'd read. This book also has lots of flash fiction in it. I prefer Carlson's longer prose, but I'm glad I bought this one. It's got some fun pieces to go with his wisdom and beauty.

This one, though, touched me deeply:

The Bull

When they led me
into the China Shop
I didn't mind,
though it was a bright place
and the wooden floor creaked.
But the way they watched,
smirking at the windows
filled my bull's heart
with a sadness
so large and fragile
you could have cracked it
with a whisper.

This somehow makes me think of Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men.
Who do you know that has a bull's fragile heart?

5 comments:

  1. Never knew of this author- I'll have to check him out on B&Noble :)

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  2. I love the idea of the bull in the china shop re-imagined here.

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  3. I think I got this link added on my page. Now that it is back up and running.

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  4. I think I got this link added on my page. Now that it is back up and running.

    ReplyDelete